theme: Rick Bayless

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Watermelon Mojito

Recipe from “Fiesta at Rick’s” cookbook
Servings: 8 12-ounce drinks

Ingredients

  • 8 large sprigs fresh mint
  • 4 cups cubed seedless watermelon—3/4-inch cubes are perfect here
  • 1/2 cup Simple Syrup
  • Ice cubes (you’ll need about 2 quarts)
  • 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
  • Sparkling water or club soda
  • * 2 cups rum

* I used cachaca b/c I thought it was rum that was made with sugar instead of molasses. Turns out I was a little off. It’s a little more like tequila. I made it luight b/c of the worry.

The major difference between cachaça and rum is that rum is usually made from molasses, a by-product from refineries that boil the cane juice to extract as much sugar crystal as possible, while cachaça is made from fresh sugarcane juice that is fermented and distilled.

The chunks of watermelon were off putting. The flavor was good. Next time I’ll probably blend the watermelon and just middle the mint

Instructions

Set out 8 tall 12-ounce glasses. Into each glass strip off the leaves from a single sprig of mint—you’ll need about 10 leaves for each drink—and top with 1/2 cup watermelon cubes. Divide the Simple Syrup among the glasses (1 tablespoon – 1/2 ounce per glass). Use a muddler (or the handle of a wooden spoon or a long-handle ice tea spoon—though neither is anywhere near as effective) to crush the mint and watermelon, releasing their flavor into the syrup—the more muddling, the fuller the flavors. Fill each glass with ice. Measure in the rum (1/4 cup – 2 ounces per glass) and the lime juice (1 tablespoon – 1/2 ounce per glass). Use a long-handle ice tea spoon to mix everything together. Top off each glass with a little sparkling water or soda and you’re ready to serve.

Posted on » by Michael » Theme:

Cheesy Shrimp Tacos

Encamaronadas

 (Loren’s recipe)
From Season 9, Mexico—One Plate at a Time
Servings: 15 tacos

INGREDIENTS

  • 12ounces (2 medium-small round or 4 or 5 plum) ripe tomatoes, cut into ¼-inch pieces
  • Fresh serrano chiles to taste, (roughly 3 to 5), or even more if you like it really picante), stemmed, seeded if you wish, and finely chopped
  • 1/4cup chopped cilantro, thick bottom stems removed
  • 1large garlic clove, peeled and very finely chopped
  • 1small white onion, finely chopped
  • 1tablespoon Mexican hot sauce (such as Valentina or Tamazula), plus extra for serving
  • 1tablespoon ketchup
  • 2teaspoons fresh lime juice (optional, but you might like the zing it adds)
  • Salt
  • About 1/3cup vegetable oil, divided use
  • 1pound small shrimp, peeled, deveined if you wish, and chopped into pieces a little smaller than ½ inch
  • 15 corn tortillas
  • 8ounces shredded Mexican melting cheese (full-flavored Chihuahua or Jack cheese work best)

INSTRUCTIONS

Making the” salsa. Scoop the tomatoes, chiles, cilantro, garlic and white onion into a bowl and mix well. Stir in the hot sauce, ketchup and optional lime juice. Taste and season with salt, usually about a scant teaspoon.

Making the shrimp filling. Heat a very large (12-inch), heavy skillet—nonstick works really well—over medium-high. Pour in 2 tablespoons of the oil and when it is hot, add the “salsa” vegetables. Cook, stirring regularly, until everything softens together, about 5 minutes. Scoop in the shrimp and stir until they are barely cooked through (they can still be slightly translucent at the center)—about 3 minutes. Scoop the shrimp mixture into a bowl, wash and dry the skillet, and return it to medium heat.

Assembling the encamaronadas. Heavily film the bottom of the skillet with oil. When hot, lay in a tortilla. After a few seconds, flip it, then scatter a couple of tablespoons of shredded cheese over one side, top with a generous tablespoon of the filling. Use tongs to fold the uncovered part of the tortilla over the filling, forming a turnover. Gently press flat. Continue to make encamaronadas in the same fashion until the skillet is full, frying them until crisp—2 to 3 minutes per side. As they become crisp, remove them to a plate lined with paper towels. Serve right away with more Mexican hot sauce.

Posted on » by Michael » Theme:

Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas

Cooking pork submerged in its own fat—what chefs have classically called confit—produces a lusciously tender and juicy result that you’d never achieve by roasting or simmering.

In the traditional Mexican kitchen, carnitas are typically cooked first at a high temperature to promote browning, then simmered low and slow until they are richly tender. Here, we’re doing the reverse, cooking the pork slowly in its own fat in a slow cooker (it requires much less fat and much less tending), then browning it when it’s time to serve.

Quick note: carnitas demand a big stack of warm tortillas for making tacos. And what’s a carnitas taco without some guacamole to spoon on it, plus a little salsa and a smear of beans.

It’s a big dish, to be sure, but a simple salad on the table really completes the meal.

Cena Completa de Carnitas de Puerco
Servings: 6
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INGREDIENTS

  • 2 pounds boneless pork shoulder
  • salt
  • 1 1/2 to 2 cups freshly rendered pork lard (you can buy good-quality lard from a local butcher or Mexican market; I don’t recommend the hydrogenated lard that’s sold in bricks)
  • 3serranos (or 2 jalapeños) stemmed, seeded if you wish
  • 10 unpeeled garlic cloves
  • 4  1/2cups cooked beans (and kind you like), drained, cooking liquid reserved (this is the quantity you’ll get from three 15-ounce cans)
  • 1 15-ounce can fire-roasted tomatoes, drained
  • 1/2cup chopped cilantro (divided use)
  • 3 or 4 limes (divided use)
  • 3 ripe avocados, pitted, flesh scooped from the skins
  • 2 dozen corn tortillas

INSTRUCTIONS

Cut the pork into 2 ½- to 3-inch pieces and sprinkle generously on all sides with salt. Scoop the lard into a 6-quart slow cooker and turn on high.  When the lard is melted, fit in the pork in a single layer (there should be few gaps between the pieces and they should be barely covered with the fat).  Cover and cook until thoroughly tender, about 3 hours.  Turn off, uncover and let cool while you prepare the accompaniments.

In a very large (12-inch) non-stick or seasoned cast-iron skillet over medium heat, roast the chiles and unpeeled garlic, turning regularly until they are softened and blackened in spots, about 10 minutes for the chiles, 15 minutes for the garlic.  Cool, then slip the garlic from its skins and put into a food processor. Pulse the garlic until it’s finely chopped.

Set the skillet over medium heat and spoon in a few tablespoons of the pork fat from the carnitas.  Add the beans and 1/3 of the chopped garlic.  Mash with an old-fashioned potato masher or back of a large spoon until as smooth as you like—I like mine to retain a little texture—adding bean cooking liquid (or water) a few tablespoons at a time until the beans have a slightly soupy consistency.  Scrape the beans into a serving bowl, cover with a piece of foil and keep warm in a very low oven.

Divide what remains of the garlic between 2 medium serving bowls.  Without cleaning the processor, pulse the chiles until finely chopped.  Divide between the two bowls.

Again, without washing the processor, pulse the drained tomatoes until they resemble salsa texture.  Scrape into one of the bowls with the chile and garlic. Stir half of the cilantro into the tomato salsa bowl and season with a tablespoon or two of fresh lime juice. Thin the salsa with a little water if it needs it, then taste and season with salt, usually about a ½ teaspoon.

Scoop the avocados into the other bowl and mash with the potato masher or back of a spoon until smooth or chunky—whatever your favorite guacamole texture.  Stir in the remaining cilantro and squeeze in a little fresh lime juice—1 tablespoon is usually enough to brighten the flavors.  Taste and season with salt, usually about a ½ teaspoon.

Cut the remaining limes into wedges and scoop into a serving bowl.

Remove the pork to a cutting board, leaving behind as much fat as possible.  (You can refrigerate the lard to use for another round of carnitas, to season beans or fry potatoes or the like.) Shred the carnitas into very large, coarse pieces.  Set the cleaned bean-cooking skillet over medium heat. When the pan is very hot, spoon in enough carnitas-cooking fat to film the bottom generously.  Scoop in the pork, spreading it out evenly over the bottom of the pan.  Cook undisturbed for a couple of minutes, until it is richly browned and releases itself from the bottom of the pan.  Gently turn the pieces to brown the other side. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels.  Sprinkle with salt (coarse salt is welcome here, if you have it). Serve on a warm platter with the beans, salsa, guacamole, lime wedges and warm tortillas.